Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Brumby on the wrong path

Its time to share to improve safety

John Brumby has scuttled a proposal that would see motor scooters gain access to Melbourne's under-utilised bike paths and improve public safety on our roads.

As many motorists will tell you there are a lot of white lined lanes left vacant in Melbourne as the bicycle lobby pushes to paint Melbourne as the new bike friendly city, but little to nothing is being done to make Melbourne scooter friendly. Scooters are a viable alternative to road congestion and the environment. Much more can and should be done to make Melbourne scooter friendly.

The proposal to allow small motor scooters, under 260cc,to use designated bike lanes and bus lanes for computer traffic is worthy of consideration and support. Many bicycle routes are not used by cyclist and the lanes are left vacant. Bikes and scooters can and should share the road space in order to improve access and public safety.

The State Government is quick to tax the scooter riding public but does nothing to improve scooter riders safety. Much more needs to be done

Road-humps are also an issue that needs review. The design of many road-humps in shopping centers and car parks are a hazard to small bike riders due to poor design and implementation.

Brumby should try coming-up with some constructive ideas to assist scooter riders as opposed to torpedoing those ideas that have merit.